September 06, 2012

Judge sides with Gitmo detainees

Using strong words, a federal #judge has rejected the #Obama administration's efforts to change the rules under which Guantanamo Bay detainees are represented by lawyers.

Denouncing what he called "an illegitimate exercise of Executive power," U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in his 32-page ruling that an existing 2008 court order will continue to guide detainees' access to counsel, even in cases where there is not an active habeas corpus petition.

"It is clear that the government had no legal authority to unilaterally impose a counsel-access regime, let alone one that would render detainees’ access to counsel illusory," Lamberth declared.

"It is a sad reality that in the ten years since the first detainees were brought toGuantanamo Bay not a single one has been fully tried or convicted of any crime. Despite this,the Government has fought to deny detainees the ability to challenge their indefinite detentionsthrough habeas proceedings. In a litany of rulings, this Court and the Supreme Court haveaffirmed that the Federal courts are open to Guantanamo detainees who wish to prove that theirindefinite detentions are illegal."

The Obama administration has sought to impose a new requirement that detainees' attorneys sign a "memorandum of understanding" in order to meet with their clients. Six detainees challenged the new requirement, which covers those who no longer have an active or pending habeas petition.

The MOU, Lamberth noted, strips counsel of their “need to know” designations, and explicitly denies counsel access to all classified documents or information which counsel had “previously obtained or created” in pursuit of a detainee’s habeas petition. Counsel can obtain access to their own classified work product only if they can justify their need for such information.

"At its heart," Lamberth wrote, "this case is about whether the Executive or the Court is charged with protecting habeas petitioners’ right to access their counsel."

TrackBack

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

The comments to this entry are closed.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

"Suits & Sentences" is a legal affairs blog written by Michael Doyle, a reporter for McClatchy's Washington Bureau. He was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Yale Law School, where he earned a Master of Studies in Law; he also earned a Masters in Government from The Johns Hopkins University with a thesis on the Freedom of Information Act. He teaches journalism as an adjunct instructor at The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs.